SATURDAY saw Dundonald Bluebell really fire a warning shot to the East Super League world that they are ready to battle for the top placings in the table with a win at Boness, while Hill of Beath Hawthorn disappointed at Sauchie but there were wins for Lochgelly Albert, Crossgates Primrose and Lochore Welfare.

Meanwhile in the East of Scotland League Kelty Hearts kept up their 100 per cent record with a big win at Stirling University.

Boness United 0,

Dundonald Bluebell 1.

THE ‘Bell emphasised their credentials as serious contenders for a top four place in the McBookie.com East Super League with this victory in West Lothian.

Boness have been having a tough season and lie in the lower reaches of the division but they are a proud club and no one at Moorside thought that this would be an easy task.

The opening stages of the game saw Boness try hard to give their good home support something to shout about but they found the Bluebell midfield and defence difficult to get through and the visitors had a couple of chances.

Indeed, the better openings came around the United goal and the key moment came in the 37th minute when Greg Meikle showed a cool head to fire the ball home after he broke down the right and came inside and shoot the ball into the bottom corner of the net.

The ‘Bell were happy to be one up at the break and in the second period they could have added to the lead with Calum Smith going close then Barry Sibanda going through but failing to net. Lewis McKenzie also came close twice, while at the other end James Lennox was seldom called into action.

The result puts Dundonald in fourth top spot on 21 points which delighted boss Stevie Kay: “You always know you will get a tough game at Boness, but we were creating chances and there were opportunities to make the margin more than Greg’s goal.

“They had plenty of possession but did not really force Lenny into having to make a difficult save and we had several excellent chances. It was another good win and we simply will be working hard to keep the points coming in, although this weekend we are on Fife and Lothians Cup business with an interesting tie at Dalkeith.”

Sauchie Athletic 2,

Hill of Beath Hawthorn 0.

AFTER a great start to this Super League game in Clackmannanshire Haws completely went off the boil.

Having scored ten goals in their last two games Hill of Beath went into the game with confidence and Greg Smith went close in the opening minutes and then Lewis Elder saw the Sauchie ‘keeper pull off a great save.

Sauchie had never really threatened Stuart Hall’s goal but two minutes from the break the home team went in front.

The ball broke to an Athletic forward in the Haws box and his shot hit John McCulloch and went into the net.

It was a blow for the visitors who did not start the second-half well and there were few chances for them, although like in the first-half, Hall was not overworked.

Then with 75 minutes on the clock the home side broke up field and Hall caught the heel of a forward and the referee pointed to the spot and the penalty was converted. Haws piled on the pressure in the closing minutes but there were no really clear chances created.

Manager Kevin Fotheringham was disappointed with the overall performance: “We saw plenty of the ball but our final pass lacked quality and our crossing was poor.”

Lochgelly Albert 4,

Armadale Thistle 1.

ONCE proud Armadale Thistle found Gardiner’s Park no happy hunting ground for them in this South Division game.

Yet the game was not really won by the Berts until the closing minutes when the home team’s forward line started to punch big holes in the visiting defence.

In the opening quarter Thistle dominated possession and Berts ‘keeper Lee Wilson pulled off three very good saves but on the half hour the hosts took the lead. John Duffy supplied Joe Kirby and he drew the ‘keeper before netting.

Armadale came back at Albert and Wilson had two more good saves before half-time but 25 minutes into the second-half there was nothing the goalkeeper could do to stop Armadale levelling after a slack piece of defending.

But this woke Lochgelly up and within five minutes Rikki Cooper set up Kirby to make it 2-1 and then the youngster became supplier for Martin Rennie to add number three.

There was no real way back for Armadale and in time added on Kirby was again the supplier of the chance for Craig Bateson to make the final score 4-1 and get Albert back to winning ways.

Crossgates Primrose 10,

Kirkcaldy YM 0.

POOR YM are bottom of the South Division for the reasons clearly shown at Humbug Park in this game.

Although they battled well in the first period the Kirkcaldy side lost their way completely after the break and goals flowed for Crossgates.

Primrose got the breakthrough in 13 minutes through a good finish from Mark Higgins and in 32 minutes Andy Watt doubled the lead.

When Chris Hughes got number three just before the break you feared for YM. Goals flowed in the second-half with a Dale Coulter double making the score 5-0 by the 55th minute.

Primrose were posing YM too many problems and braces for Mark McKenzie and Jamie McNeish and one for Ali McDonald brought the tally to ten.

Lochee Harp 0,

Lochore Welfare 3.

A TREMENDOUS result for the Welfare which moves then on to the nine point mark in the North Division and eighth spot in the table.

The Lochore team came out of the traps fast in Dundee and had Lochee in trouble early in the game and in 13 minutes they took the lead with a good finish from Logan Donaldson, who worked a one-two with back in action James Adam and fired an 18 yarder into the net .

The Harp defence was having real problems containing the eager visitors and on the 18 minute mark number two came from Aaron Woods eight yards out after great work by Joe Kinninmonth, who latched onto David Byrne’s fine pass.

Lochee did threaten a couple of times but three minutes before the break Ethan Anderson grabbed number three for the Welfare with a fine shot from the edge of the box.

The second period saw the Crosshill men look for more but they had a set-back in 62 minutes when Adam Haddow was red carded for a last man offence.

However, it did not affect their flow and there were other chances for Lochore while Lochee had a couple of openings but the visitors close ranks to ensure they got all three points with centre-back pairing of Kearyn Hicks and Lewis Thomson, and debut ‘keeper Liam Valentine, playing outstanding roles in the team's first shut-out of the season.

Welfare boss Andy Healey was understandably delighted: “That first half was the best 45 minutes of any of my teams in my 15 years of management, the lads played some superb football and even when we lost Adam Haddow after the break we still had chances to score.

“James Adam and Scott Small were influential in midfield and the lads responded with some superb moves. It was really good to watch.”

Stirling University 1,

Kelty Hearts 7.

ANOTHER simple win for Hearts as they kept up their 100 per cent record in the East of Scotland League.

Hearts and Lothian Thistle have four wins from four starts and they are three points behind league leaders Preston Athletic who have played a game more.

Kelty were two up in seven minutes with goals from Errol Douglas and Scott Dalziel hitting the target but Hearts ‘keeper Scott Christie had to make a superb save before the Students hit the bar, however, before the break Ross Philp’s drive and a Dalziel header made it 4-0.

Stuart Cargill and Jordyn Sheerin were introduced by the visitors at the break and goals continued to flow with the former grabbing a double and another from Douglas, but the best goal of the game came from the hosts with a 45 yard lob foxing Christie.

Kelty boss Thomas Courts was happy with the result: “The Uni were a spirited bunch but scoring twice in the first seven minutes put us in charge.

“We created a lot of good chances and some of the finishing was excellent, although I must say that their goal was something special.”

Saturday’s fixtures: South Division, Lochgelly Albert v Pumpherston. Fife and Lothians Cup, Crossgates Primrose v Linlithgow Rose, Dunbar United v Hill of Beath Hawthorn, Dalkeith Thistle v Dundonald Bluebell, Oakley United v Lochore Welfare. East of Scotland League, Burntisland Shipyard v Kelty Hearts (all games 2.30pm).